An Interview Study of the Experiences of Police Officers in Regard to Psychological Contract and Wellbeing

In this paper, it is argued that the psychological contract (PC) could provide rich insights into the understanding of employee and employer relations within the police and the stress and wellbeing of officers. Eighteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with active, full-time police officers and these were analysed using framework analysis. More than 100 base-units of meaning were identified which were categorised into six main themes namely ‘Motivation’, ‘Mutual obligations’, ‘Stressors’, ‘Negative consequences’, ‘Mediators’ and ‘Positive impact of the job’. From the interviews, it was apparent that some officers are experiencing PC breach and that this was having a negative impact on their wellbeing. These findings are considered and avenues for improving the situation are discussed.

An Interview Study of the Experiences of Police Officers in Regard to Psychological Contract and Wellbeing

Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896
An Interview Study of the Experiences of Police Officers in Regard to Psychological Contract and Wellbeing
Fazeelat Duran 0
Jessica Woodhams 0
Darren Bishopp 0
0 Frankland Building, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham , Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT , UK
1 Fazeelat Duran
In this paper, it is argued that the psychological contract (PC) could provide rich insights into the understanding of employee and employer relations within the police and the stress and wellbeing of officers. Eighteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with active, full-time police officers and these were analysed using framework analysis. More than 100 base-units of meaning were identified which were categorised into six main themes namely 'Motivation', 'Mutual obligations', 'Stressors', 'Negative consequences', 'Mediators' and 'Positive impact of the job'. From the interviews, it was apparent that some officers are experiencing PC breach and that this was having a negative impact on their wellbeing. These findings are considered and avenues for improving the situation are discussed.
Police officers; Psychological contract; Breach; Stress; Wellbeing
-
Over the past decade, policing has been widely discussed
as a stressful occupation as compared to other
professions in the literature
(Campbell and Nobel 2009;
Vuorensyrja and Malkia Vuorensyrjä and Mälkiä 2011)
.
By its nature, it has been identified as one of the most
demanding and stressful occupations worldwide because
of the officers’ exposure to a variety of acute and
chronic stressful events at work
(Liberman et al. 2002;
Magnavita and Garbarino 2013; Paton et al. 2009)
.
Consequently, police officers are at greater risk of
physical and mental ill-health, e.g. impaired psychosocial
wellbeing and physical ill-health
(Garbarino, Cuomo,
Chiorri, and Magnavita Garbarino et al. 2013; Lucas,
Weidner, and Janisse Lucas et al. 2012)
, self-harm and
poor functioning
(Volanti et al. 2016)
.
Policing in the UK is facing even greater challenges at
present with the current organisational climate of budget cuts
due to austerity measures. The current number of full-time
police officers is 124,066 and their number has decreased by
2.2% (2752 officers) compared to the previous year. In
addition, there has been a 35% increase in the number of officers
on long-term sick leave due to psychological reasons over the
last 5 years, i.e. from 19,825 in 2011 to 22,547 in 2015
(Allen
2017)
. According to the Police Federation, the causes of this
are unprecedented cuts to police numbers and a change in shift
patterns, besides officers facing increasing job demands
(BBC
2016; Guingand 2015)
. It is therefore timely to investigate
how austerity measures might directly or indirectly act as a
stressor for police officers in the UK and the impact on their
wellbeing. The current study therefore aimed to explore the
experiences of police officers working in the UK, the stressors
they experience and their strategies to manage stress and the
impact of psychological contract on their stress and wellbeing.
The success of a law enforcement organisation depends
upon a good understanding of the stressors operating within the
organisation and managing their impact on performance and
wellbeing
(Kuo 2014)
. Generally, there are two accepted
sources of stress in policing namely job content (operational
stressors) and job context (organisational stressors)
(Houdmont et al. 2012; McCreary and Thompson 2006;
Shane 2010)
. Operational stressors for policing, such as
exposure to violence and death, pressure to perform efficiently,
making critical decisions and life-threatening situations
(McCraty
and Atkinson 2012; Violanti and Aron 1993; Waters and
Ussery 2007)
, have been linked to psychosomatic symptoms
and psychological distress
(Burke and Mikkelsen 2005; Dowler
and Arai 2008; Setti and Argentero 2013; Volanti et al. Violanti
et al. 2006)
. In addition, organisational stressors, such as shift
work, overtime demands, feelings of being always on the job,
problems with co-workers, inadequate training, weekend duty,
poor relationships with supervisors and colleagues and a lack of
administrative support
(Ellison 2004; McCreary et al.
McCreary and Thompson 2006; Shane 2010; Violanti et al.
Violanti and Aron 1993)
, have been associated with depression
and anxiety (Nelson and Smith 2016), suicide
(Spence and
Millott Spence and Millot 2016)
, burnout
(Burke and
Mikkelsen 2005)
, marital or family problems
(Alexander and
Walker 1996)
, poor performance (LeBlanc, Regher, Jelley, and
Barath LeBlanc et al. 2008), emotional exhaustion, cynicism,
absenteeism, early retirement, alcoholism and post-traumatic
stress disorder
(Brough 2004; Dowler et al. Dowler and Arai
2008; Martinussen, Richardsen, and Burke Martinussen et al.
2007; Setti et al. Setti and Argentero 2013; Toch 2002; Volanti
et al. Violanti et al. 2006)
.
Previous studies have identified that police officers use
problem-focused coping (e.g. actively addressing the source
of stress) and emotion-focused coping (e.g. acceptance,
distraction) to manage their stressors
(Evans, Coman, Stanley,
and Burrows Evans et al. 1993; Folkman 2008; Gomes and
Afonso 2016; Nelson et al. Nelson and Smith 2016)
. Seeking
social support from supervisors at work, family and
coworkers has been reported as a coping strategy
(Gutshall
et al. 2017)
to ameliorate the consequences of stressors
(Patterson 2003; Thompson, Kirk, and Brown Thompson
et al. 2005)
. In addition, getting good quality sleep was
reported as a strategy to manage stress (Gutshall et al. 2017). The
type of coping used appears to affect wellbeing; officers using
problem-focused coping reported greater job satisfaction,
whereas those using emotion-focused coping reported more
psychological distress, smoking and alcohol consumption
(Pasillas et al. 2006; Pastwa-Wojciechowska and Piotrowski
2016; Volanti et al. 2016)
. In this paper, we explore what
factors police officers report mediating the effects of stress.
A key construct that has been discussed in the literature in
the context of employee and employer relationships and work
stressors is ‘psychological contract’ (PC)
(Noblet et al. 2009;
Stansfeld and Candy 2006)
. This construct is based on the
assumptions of social exchange and refers to ‘an individual
belief shaped by the organisation, regarding terms of an
exchange agreement between individuals and their organisation’
(Rousseau 1989, p.123)
. Essentially, it refers to mutual beliefs
between an individual and another party such as their employer.
Employees’ feelings that their obligations are met are known as
psychological contract fulfilment (PCF). PCF has been
associated with job satisfaction, low work-related anxiety and
depression and high levels of trust and fairness between employees
and employers
(Conway and Briner 2009; Guest et al. 2010)
.
However, if employees feel that their obligations are unmet, it
results in perceived psychological contract breach (PCB)
(Conway and Briner 2009; Rousseau 1995)
, which has
been found to predict imbalance in the employment
relationship promoting psychosocial stressors in the work
environment
(Robbins, Ford, and Tetrick Robbins et al.
2012)
. Psychological contract theory therefore provides a
useful lens for the examination of what is experienced as a stressor
in the workplace and why. For example, some organisational
stressors might be accepted by employees as being ‘part of the
job’ because they are part of their psychological contract with
their employer. In contrast, other stressors may not be accepted
by the employee because they represent a breach in the
psychological contract of employer to employee, or because they
impose conditions, which prevent the employee fulfilling their
perceived obligations to their employer. Differences in
psychological contract can therefore shed light on individual
differences in the experience of stress in the workplace and reactions
to it. Moreover, according to the Conservation of Resource
(COR) theory, employees strive to protect their required
resources such as time, money and health. Perceived or actual
loss of such resources can lead to withdrawal behaviour
(Halbesleben and Bowler 2007; Hobfoll 1998)
. Therefore, in
this paper, we examine whether officers’ perceived unmet
obligations or broken promises (psychological contract breach)
relate to stress and wellbeing.
Despite there being an extensive literature on the
importance of psychological contract with employees and
employers from the commercial, educational and retail sectors,
few studies have examined this construct with police officers
(Castaing 2006; Chen and Kao 2012; Dick 2006; Gaston and
Alexander 2001; Noblet et al. 2009; Rodwell et al. 2011)
.
Atkinson, Barrow and Connors (Atkinson et al. 2003)
investigated psychological contract within the police force and
models of career advancement. They identified psychological
contract as a key factor for improving retention of probationer
police officers (n = 163). Likewise,
Dick (2009)
championed
the importance of studying experiences of psychological
contract breach or violation to identify the effects of idiosyncratic
contracts in the police service.
Noblet et al. (2009)
and
Rodwell et al. (2011)
investigated
psychological contract with 582 and 128 Australian police
officers, respectively. They found that PCF was not a
significant predictor of wellbeing, psychological distress, job
satisfaction and affective commitment. Similarly,
Castaing
(2006)
investigated PCF and motivation, as antecedents to
organisational commitment with 754 civil servants in
France, of whom 179 were police officers. Psychological
contract explained 11.8% of the variance in affective
commitment. However, teachers represented the majority of the
sample (n = 550) as compared to police officers, and therefore, it
cannot be determined to what extent the results apply to police
officers, specifically.
In the UK,
Gaston and Alexander (2001)
conducted a
survey with 1226 volunteer police officers from the 43 police
forces to explore the organisational and managerial
implications of the employment of special constables in the
police service. They identified that an unrealistic expectation
of what the role involved and poor quality working
relationships were key factors influencing the decision to
resign.
Chen and Kao (2012)
investigated the importance of
psychological contract as a mediator between work values and
service-oriented organisational behaviour with 435 Taiwanese
police officers. PCF mediated the relationship between work
values and organisational citizenship behaviour (an
employee’s commitment in the organisation, which is not part
of a contract). They subsequently argued that PCF could be
a key variable for improving organisational behaviour.
Dick (2006)
adopted a qualitative approach to explore how
managers and part-time officers within the UK police dealt
with the transition from full-time to part-time working. He
found that officers’ beliefs about the transition from full-time
to part-time work were influenced by individual inferences
from organisational practices, namely industrial tribunals,
actions by the human resource department, the government
sector responsible for policing and the views of their co-workers
who had made the transition.
In summary, there are only a limited number of
studies that have examined psychological contract with a
police sample. The findings have been mixed in terms
of the role of psychological contract in explaining
employee wellbeing and organisational behaviour. Only one
of these studies has taken a qualitative approach to
understanding the role of psychological contract and it had
a very narrow focus (i.e. on the transitions from full-time
to part-time work). Although previous studies have
studied the psychological contract qualitatively with other
professionals, due to the nature of the job, it is expected
that police officers would have different obligations and
reactions to breach than other occupational groups.
Therefore, in the austerity climate, it is timely to extend
this work using a qualitative approach to gain a rich and
in-depth understanding of the police officers’
psychological contract and how this relates to their stress and
wellbeing. In addition, this paper extends
Conway and
Briner’s (2009)
suggestion that psychological contracts
might be affected by social context and this could only
be explored qualitatively.
Conducting such a study has the additional advantage
of being able to consider how well existing themes, or
content, from extant quantitative measures of
psychological contract generalise from the commercial, educational
and retail sectors, on which they were developed, to the
emergency services. At present, it is not known how
suitable they are and this may, in part, explain the mixed
findings of quantitative studies to date. Thus, this study
would help address this gap in the literature by giving
some indication of their suitability. The aim of the current
study was therefore to examine UK full-time police
officers’ perceptions of psychological contract and its impact
on their stress and wellbeing.
Method
Participants and Recruitment Participants were recruited from
within one English county via advertisement of the study on
the Intranet system of the police force. In total, 18 full-time,
active, front-line police officers participated. The ethnic
background of all the respondents was White, and 13 were males
and five were female police officers.1 Three were divorced,
one was separated, two were single and 11 were married or in
a relationship. Their length of operational service ranged from
9 to 30 years. They described themselves as detective
constables (n = 4), firearms officers (n = 2), police officers (n = 5),
police constables (n = 6) and a chief inspector (n = 1).
Materials A semi-structured interview was conducted with
each participant on an individual basis. The interview
schedule consisted of open-ended questions that defined areas to be
explored and allowed flexibility to discuss emerging issues.
During the interview, demographic information was collected
from the interviewee namely gender, ethnicity, marital status,
job title, number of years worked in the police force and
number of hours worked per week. Following this, the questions
focused on their reasons for joining the force (to gain insights
into their initial expectations of the employer and the job), the
police officer’s current perceptions of employee and employer
obligations, stressors and strategies to manage stressors and
the impact of job on their wellbeing (positive or negative).
Procedure Ethical approval for the study was obtained from
Science, Technology and Mathematics (STEM) Research
Ethics Committee at the University and consent for conducting
the study was obtained from the police force. Telephone
interviews were requested by the officers due to the nature of their
work. Interviews were scheduled by the first author, and the
participant information sheet and consent forms were emailed
to the participants a week before the interview was conducted.
Before the interview commenced, consent was obtained for the
interview to be audio-recorded. The mean interview length was
52.82 min (range: 49–68 min). After the interview was
completed, each participant was sent an email containing a
debriefing sheet. Within the sheet, the contact detail of their
support services at work was provided so that they could seek
help, if required. The interviewees were given 2 weeks
postinterview to withdraw from the study. After the 2 weeks passed,
the audio files were transcribed verbatim (replacing names with
pseudonyms) and deleted from the audio recorder.
Data Analysis Strategy The transcripts were analysed using
framework analysis. QSR Nvivo11 was used to manage the
1 The majority of police officers in the 43 forces in England and Wales were
White, where 6% of Black and Minority Ethnics (BME) and 29% of officers
were female
(Hargreaves, Husband, and Linehan 2017)
.
data, while ensuring the analyst could review the original
material. Each interviewee was allocated a row and the
subheadings were placed in a separate column. Each transcript
was analysed by coding base units of meaning. These units
were further categorised into logical low-order themes. The
generated low-order themes for each participant were integrated
across participants to further categorise into high-order themes
capturing shared experiences of the participants. Lastly, the
relationships and interactions between the themes in the matrix
were examined by the authors, to ensure they captured the
beliefs and experiences of the sampled police officers as
expressed in their interviews
(Ritchie and Lewis 2003)
.
Results
Six main themes were identified that were labelled
‘Motivation’, ‘Mutual obligations’, ‘Stressors’, ‘Negative
consequences’, ‘Mediators’ and ‘Positive impact of the job’ (see
Table 1). Each of these themes served as an umbrella theme for
high-order categories. These high-order categories consisted of
low-order categories and base-units of meaning (see Table 2).
Theme 1: Motivation
This theme refers to officers’ motivations for joining the
police force. Primarily, the police officers had three reasons for
joining the force. For approximately 70% (n = 13) of the
participants, their reasons for joining the police force were it
being a ‘life time aspiration’ and ‘looking for a better career’:
I started my career as an [job title], but did not enjoy the
work. I had aspirations to be a police officer (Male,
Police officer 8).
I wanted a better career and also some sort of job
satisfaction (Female, Police officer 2).
I was always passionate about having a career in the
police force (Male, Police officer 7).
A few police officers (n = 3) joined because they thought they
would enjoy the ‘diverse nature of the job’, namely meeting
new people and learning about diverse cultures. Others stated
that they wanted to make a difference by helping people, and
they enjoyed the physicality of the job (n = 12).
I enjoy helping people; I prefer the physical aspect of the
job (Male, Police officer 11).
This suggests that, alike other emergency services
(Brunsden, Hill, and Maguire Brunsden et al. 2014)
,
police officers enjoy the special status of helping people in
need. With 70% of participants (n = 13) joining for better
career opportunities, in the current climate of austerity
measures, the employers may face difficulties meeting
such perceptions.
Theme 2: Mutual Obligations
This theme encapsulated police officers’ perceived
unwritten obligations from their employers (‘employer
obligations’), and in return their obligations to the
employer (‘employee obligations’)
(Conway and Briner 2009;
Guest et al. 2010; Rousseau 1990)
. Five categories of
employer obligations towards their employees, i.e.
‘fairness’, ‘appropriate equipment’, ‘value’, ‘flexibility’ and
‘support’, and two categories of employee obligations,
i.e. ‘loyalty’ and ‘task achievement’, were discovered
(see Table 2).
Employer Obligations
Approximately two-thirds (n = 12) of the officers cited
‘fairness’ as an important obligation in terms of promotion
opportunities (i.e. no favouritism) and amount of work.
This obligation has been captur ed within existing
PSYCONES (2005)
measure. The female officers (n = 2)
stressed equal opportunities and wanting to be treated
fairly like male officers. Previous research has associated
interpersonal fairness with psychological wellbeing amongst
police officers
(Noblet et al. 2009)
.
I want to be treated fairly like other police officers and
no discrimination has to be done in terms of being a
female police officer (Female, Police officer 17).
Half of the interviewees (n = 9) spoke about having
‘appropriate equipment’ as a perceived obligation from
their employer. Their safety is put at risk if they attend
an incident without appropriate equipment. This
suggests that having the appropriate equipment to perform
their job well and look after their own safety is a key
obligation amongst police officers. In addition,
Walker
(2010)
measure consists of this obligation.
We are dealing with public, so safety is at risk, so having
right equipment is very important (Male, Police officer 5).
It was further identified that some of the police officers
(n = 12) believe that their employers should provide them
with ‘flexibility’
(Herriot, Manning, and Kidd Herriot
et al. 1997)
in terms of deadlines and to understand if
these are missed. Herriot, Manning and Kidd
(Herriot
et al. 1997)
measure has mentioned flexibility as one of
the obligations. This suggests that due to the nature of the
Fairness
Value
Flexibility
Support
Employee obligations
Task achievement
Change in obligations
Internal social context (relation with supervisors)
Loyalty (guarding the org. reputation)
External social context (marital status)
Breach of the obligations
Feelings of being neglected
Source of stressors
Personal stressors
Operational stressors
Organisational stressors
Negative consequences
Intentions to leave
Sleep problems
Motivation
Employer obligations
High-order, low-order categories and base units of meaning by participants (n = 18)
job and cuts in the work force numbers, officers are
struggling with their workload and expect their employer to
recognise this difficulty and accommodate it.
She is not flexible at all. She gets at my door and tells
what she needs from me. She actually wants me to work
as hard as she does. I have my own priorities and decide
according to it (Female, Police officer 15).
We failed to attend a follow-up because we were asked
to attend another incident (Male, Police officer 4).
Three-quarters of the interviewees (n = 14) cited ‘valuing
your staff’ as an obligation from their employer. This
obligation has been captured within existing
PSYCONES
(2005)
and
(Scheel and Mohr 2013)
measures. The officers
expect to be valued by higher management/their employer
and this related to their job satisfaction and wellbeing.
Similarly, Robinson, Perryman and Hayday
(Robinson
et al. 2004)
identified that within NHS employees, the
fundamental factor for employee engagement was a ‘sense of
feeling valued and involved’. The quotes in our interviews
also indicated that this expectation had been breached in
more recent times.
You say you value your staff but we are not sure any
more (Male, Police officer 10).
‘Support’ is an obligation that has been mentioned in previous
measures
(Rousseau 1990; PSYCONES 2005)
. The
interviewees perceived themselves to be supported by their
employer when they had made a mistake. This implies their
reputation and job security when something goes wrong is
important to them. In addition, the female officers mentioned
wanting emotional support from their employers. This finding
resonates with Noblet et al. (2009), who found that support
inside and outside the work as a significant predictor of
psychological distress and organisational citizenship behaviour.
For some interviewees (n = 9), their quotes implied that this
obligation was not always being met.
I feel [I need] to be supported emotionally (Female,
Police officer16).
If something goes wrong, happens, they never support.
I would perceive more support from the higher ranks
(Male, Police officer 9).
Employee Obligations
In exchange, all the employees perceived that the
employers wanted them to be ‘loyal’ towards the
organisation by guarding its reputation and protecting its core
values. Loyalty is an obligation reflected in several
existing measures of PC
(Bunderson 2001; Herriot,
Manning, and Kidd Herriot et al. 1997; PSYCONES
2005; Rousseau 2000)
. In terms of protecting the core
values, the employer (the Police Service) were cited as
wanting them to be ethical, moral and maintain their
competencies. In addition, our interviewees believed that
their employer wanted them to be fair while dealing with
or helping people.
My employer wants me to portray them with dignity.
I deal with people with justice and fairness (Male,
Police officer 11).
We take oaths and have to do various things within the
ethical codes. We promise to do at the best of our
abilities (Male, Police officer 7).
A recent study of police officers in Australia similarly
noted that a strong focus of police organisational culture
was promoting a positive image of the Service to the
public and that officers reporting being expected to
comply with standardised procedures and codes of conduct
(Brough, Chataway, and Biggs Brough et al. 2016)
. Of
the previously published PC measures, only Bunderson’s
(2001) measure captures the obligation of ‘achievement of
assigned duties or tasks’. There were mixed obligations in
regard to the achievement of assigned duties or tasks
amongst the interviewees. Approximately one-quarter of
employees (n = 4) mentioned that the employer has
realistic obligations of them, but 20% of officers (n = 4) stated
that the employers sometimes have realistic obligations.
For example, having a belief that employees would
protect the core values of the police force was seen to be a
realistic obligation. However, around 58% of the
employees perceived that their employers were unrealistic
in terms of asking them to perform multiple tasks at the
same time with few officers. Further, they believed that
their employers were not sympathetic and just gave
orders, not understanding that the actual problem was a
shortage of staff.
Half of the time the stuff they desire us to do is not
achievable. They want us to perform for each and every
person. We want to, but we are so short of staff. By the
time we have done one job, we have another job to do
(Male, Police officer 9).
It’s quite easy for them as they sit at the desk and
give orders. It’s hard for them to understand (Male,
Police officer 11).
From the obligations cited by the interviewees, it
appears that the perceived obligations to the employer
were relatively uniform, whereas the perceived
obligations of the employee to the employer were more
variable. The obligations cited in the interviews would
reflect a relational type of psychological contract, except
for appropriate equipment, which is more indicative of a
transactional contract. A relational contract is implicit
and highly subjective with no clear time frame
(Conway and Briner 2009; Rousseau 1990)
, and it is
the type of contract that one would expect to find with
these participants since all are full-time active police
officers. Previous research has shown that employees
on casual contracts tend to have more transactional
contracts and employees on permanent contracts tend to
have more relational types of psychological contract
(Conway and Briner 2009; Guest 2004)
.
Further, the sort of employer and employee
obligations cited by the interviewees overlap with obligations
cited for other sectors. For example, having the
appropriate equipment, valuing your staff, flexibility, fairness,
trust, loyalty and support are all factors within measures
of psychological contract developed with employees
from educational, retail and commercial sectors. As a
result, it could be suggested that psychological contract
measures such as those developed by Rousseau (1990,
2000),
PSYCONES (2005)
,
Walker (2010)
,
Bunderson
(2001)
and Herriot, Manning and Kidd
(Herriot et al.
1997)
would be appropriate for use with samples of
police officers to measure psychological contract, at
least based on this sample.
Change in Obligations
The police officers also spoke about change in their
obligations over time due to a variety of factors. The majority
of them (n = 16) mentioned that their obligations have
changed on the basis of their relationships with their
colleagues and supervisor. For example: quotes indicated that
they expect colleagues to be trustworthy, supportive and
not underhand; yet, some quotes suggested a change in
relationships in the workplace.
sampled by
Brough et al. (2016)
. As a result, the officers
in our sample reported withdrawing from others.
I have basically turned inward; I mean you have secrets
and cannot trust anyone (Male, Police officer 11).
There is more politics in the department than it was
before (Female, Police officer 17).
I don’t think any support is provided because I don’t
trust them anymore (Male, Police officer 3).
Those who were married, in a relationship or single parents,
mentioned that their obligations have changed due to having
more family responsibilities, and maintaining a work-life
balance had become more important to them. They felt their
employer should be flexible in terms of shift patterns and
having realistic obligations.
Now, I am more concerned about the work-life balance
than before (Male, Police officer 12).
Breach of the Obligations
The responses in the interviews did indeed confirm that
there were breaches to the officers’ psychological
contract. More than half of the officers (n = 11) reported
‘feelings of being neglected’ by the police force. They spoke
about management not valuing them and being more
concerned about recruitment policies.
I don’t think really the management worry about the
individuals; they are more worried about or bothered
about who is going to replace us (Male, Police officer 5).
Feeling undervalued was a theme that also emerged in
Brough et al. (2016)
study of Australian police officers. A
few of the officers (n = 5) mentioned that they were not well
supported in terms of illness.
On a number of occasions, I was sick and not well
supported (Female, Police officer 15).
I have to say no support from employers (Male,
Police officer 3)
Another perceived breach in obligation from their
employer was concerned with trust. Approximately 50% of
the interviewees (n = 9) mentioned that they were unable
to trust their employers or colleagues. For example, one of
the employees mentioned issues of mistrust within the
organisation with regard to occupational health
department not maintaining confidentiality. Again, a similar
theme was reported by the Australian police officers
In terms of previous literature,
Robinson (1996)
reported
employees’ trust to be negatively related to psychological
contract breach. Thus, building trust with employees is
one way in which the employer could try to address
psychological contract breach.
Theme 3: Stressors
There were three common sources of stress identified in
the interviews, namely personal (stressors outside the
work), operational (incident-related stressors) and
organisational stressors (work-place-related stressors)
(Houdmont et al. 2012; Shane 2010)
. These stressors
were also reported to have a negative impact on the
physical and psychological wellbeing of the police
officers interviewed (see Table 2). The interviewees
specifically referred to the following operational stressors:
dealing with traumatic incidents, being unable to help
a person with a problem and seeing the bad or evil side
of people. Further, they quoted that it was distressing to
be making critical decisions at an incident where the
suspect is armed.
Dealing with anyone who is armed, you don't know
what they are going to do (Male, Police officer 9).
The stressors cited by our interviewees were alike those
reported by McCarty et al.
(McCraty and Atkinson 2012)
,
Violanti et al.
(Violanti and Aron 1993)
and Waters et al.
(Waters and Ussery 2007)
.
Further, around 80% of the officers (n = 14) spoke about
‘personal stressors’, particularly work-life balance. They
reported difficulty in maintaining a good balance between work
and home life. This seemed more relevant to the interviewees
who were in a relationship or who were single parents.
Workfamily conflict has previously been identified as a significant
predictor of turnover intentions in police officers
(Yun,
Hwang and Lynch Yun et al. 2015)
and job dissatisfaction
(Kinman, McDowall, and Cropley Kinman et al. 2012)
. In
addition, female officers reported family pressure to become
part-time officers to maintain a balance between work and
home. One of them spoke about going through divorce and
menopause at the same time.
It is difficult for me to manage my family life and work
life (Female, Police officer 17)
It is difficult to manage my work and life (Male,
Police officer 11).
The interviewees mentioned a number of ‘organisational
stressors’, consistent with previous studies
(Campbell
et al. Campbell and Nobel 2009; Shane 2010)
, such as
shift pattern, work politics and poor trust and support
amongst colleagues. The most common stressor faced
by 70% of officers (n = 13) was workload due to
insufficient staffing. Collins and Gibbs (2003) and
Sen (2015)
also found workload to be an important factor in the
level of stress experienced by police officers, with
females being at greater risk of psychological distress.
Actually, the amount of workload we face with few police
officers is the cause of stress (Male, Police officer 9).
It seems that within the current climate of financial
cuts, the police officers are facing a high pressure of
workload because of the decrease in the number of
police officers. Therefore, the employers are reportedly
expecting current staff to do over-time and their beliefs
are perceived to be unrealistic:
The job has changed, as there is more work with less
people (Male, Police officer 18).
People don’t realise how difficult a police officer’s job is
in today’s financial crisis, how challenging it is as we
have more work than people (Male, Police officer 9).
Theme 4: Negative Consequences
In terms of the consequences of these stressors and PC
breach, the officers reported experiencing ‘sleep
problems’, namely disturbed sleep, lack of sleep and sleepless
nights due to shift pattern, no flexibility and nightmares.
Sleep problems and sleep disorders have been associated
with poor health and performance
(Rajaratnam et al. 2011)
.
The shift pattern and amount of work reportedly had
a number of negative effects on the police officers’
‘psychological’ wellbeing
(Campbell et al. Campbell
and Nobel 2009)
. Some of the officers (n = 8) were
‘fatigued’, which is constantly tired and exhausted.
Most of them (n = 15) mentioned they were mentally
exhausted, irritable and impatient due to the amount of
work they have to do and the shift pattern. They also
reported feeling ‘overtaxed’ in terms of always being
unconsciously alert in gatherings and finding it difficult
to relax at home. A few of them (n = 5) found the
nature of the job itself depressing; however, the work
pattern and disrupted sleep were also directly associated
with feeling depressed. Officers who are fatigued
onduty could be at greater risk of poor performance, work
place injury and be a safety risk for the public
(Fekedulegn et al. 2017; Waggonner 2012)
.
I was suffering from depression for a couple of years
and the shift pattern and more work was the cause of it
(Male, Police officer 10).
Working nights is very exhausting and tiring (Female,
Police officer 17).
Disrupted sleep problems in this job are the cause of
stressful job and depression (Male, Police officer 11).
Further, two of the officers had ‘intentions to leave the
job’ because of the workload and the perceived unrealistic
obligations of their employer. This may be because the
high workloads are preventing them from spending
enough time with their families and causing them to miss
family time and social occasions. Similar findings were
reported by
Yoo and Matsui (2012)
. This indicates that
psychological contract breach is linked with stressors that
are associated with turnover intentions.
I would leave the job tomorrow if I could; the workload
is increasing not decreasing (Male, Police officer 3).
The shift pattern didn’t work with my family time. I
frequently missed dinners and social occasions (Male,
Police officer 5).
The analysis further revealed that 55% of officers (n = 10)
were not satisfied with their job. Potentially, this could be
linked to organisational stressors because of the workload
and employer-employee obligations that were perceived to
be unrealistic (related to task achievement, inflexible working
conditions, and understaffing).
I have more job satisfaction than an average person but
I’m not wholly satisfied (Female, Police officer 1).
I am not as satisfied with this job as I expect to be (Male,
Police officer 3).
In summary, the interviewees named a number of stressors
and identified a link between PC, stressors and their
wellbeing, attributing mental and physical health problems
to working conditions, including workload, which is likely
more of a problem now than ever it was.
Theme 5: Mediators
A number of mediators were used by the police officers to
ameliorate the effects of stressors and PC breach. Social
support was perceived as an effective method for dealing
with stressors. This was further divided into ‘internal
support’ (support within the organisation) and ‘external
support’ (support outside the organisation). In terms of
internal support, most of the officers reported communicating
with their seniors and colleagues when they were facing a
stressful event. A few of them (n = 3) mentioned speaking
to the occupational health department within the police
force. Three officers appreciated the support they received
in terms of being afforded a flexible shift pattern to help
manage work and home life. This indicated that the
employers were accommodating the employees with
something that could otherwise result in PC breach and have
negative consequences for their wellbeing.
I have flexible hours and I am able to give time to
my family … that is a great balance for me along
with doing my job that I always wanted to do
(Female, Police officer 15).
Around two-thirds of the officers (n = 12) mentioned that
the external support received from family members and
friends was preferable to that provided by colleagues.
However, some (n = 5) felt that they could not talk about their
job with their family, because this would result in their family
being stressed or worried about them too. They did, however,
have alternative sources of social support. For example,
I rarely talk to family, most of the time I talk to friends
(Male, Police officer 2).
Some interviewees (n = 7) said they preferred to seek help
from their general practitioner instead of seeking help from
the occupational health department. The reason for this was
that they mistrusted their colleagues and the organisation, as
reported above.
Beyond social support, the officers quoted additional
strategies related to life outside of work to handle stressors. These
included playing video games, going for a walk and fishing.
They also mentioned drawing on their ‘previous learning’,
namely learning from previous experiences and becoming
skilful at coping with stress.
In accordance with previous findings, the interviewees
used problem-focused coping to manage their stressors
(Folkman 2008; Gomes and Afonso 2016)
, namely social
support from work, family and friends
(Gutshall et al.
2017; Thompson et al. 2005; Patterson 2003)
. The
interviewees also mentioned that the strategies they chose
varied depending on the situation.
Theme 6: Positive Impact of the Job
There were a number of aspects to the job that were
affecting the personal lives of our interviewees but in a
positive way. The interviewees reported experiencing
‘personal growth’ with time, such as becoming more
responsible, confident, respectful and mature. Moreover,
they reported becoming aware of diverse cultures and
becoming more protective rather than paranoid when they
were off-duty. They also enjoyed helping people and
developing close friendships with their colleagues.
I got mature quickly (Male, Police officer 11).
We, the police, have the best job to help people ((Male,
Police officer 7; Female, Police officer 15).
Besides reporting facing a range of stressors and a
breach of psychological contract, this theme illustrated
that the officers interviewed still enjoy the experience of
being a police officer.
Discussion
The aim of this study was to explore the concept of
psychological contract with a sample of police officers to
better understand their obligations to their job and
employer and their perceptions of their employer’s
obligations to them. Further, we aimed to better understand the
relationship between psychological contract and the stress
and wellbeing of active police officers in the UK,
particularly during a time of austerity.
The responses from our interviewees suggested that,
like other occupations, psychological contract was a
relevant construct in understanding employee and employer
relationships and psychological wellbeing and why some
factors were experienced as stressors. There was overlap
between the content of previously developed measures
and issues expressed by these interviewees. Therefore,
the findings support the validity of previously developed
psychological contract measures, such as Rousseau (1990,
2000),
PSYCONES (2005)
,
Walker (2010)
,
Bunderson
(2001)
and Herriot, Manning and Kidd
(Herriot et al.
1997)
, with this occupation.
Similar to Dick’s findings
(Dick 2006)
, it was
apparent that the psychological contract of a police officer is
not just influenced by their immediate employer, but as
a public servant, by the organisational practices of the
Government, e.g. implementing budget cuts. Therefore,
consideration needs to be given as to whether it would
be appropriate to clarify what is meant by ‘organisation’
or ‘employer’ in quantitative measures of psychological
contract when used with public servants. The reason is
the officers consider multiple individuals to be their
employers (i.e. they talk about their immediate
supervisor, their line manager and senior management). It is
possible that breaches are occurring at one or multiple
levels and thus steps to improve psychological contract
would need to take account of this. Thus, it would be
useful to study the psychological contract from multiple
perspectives to understand and improve the employee
and employer relationship
(Conway and Briner 2009;
Tetrick 2004)
.
Previous studies
(Abdollahi 2002; Brough et al. 2016;
Burke and Mikkelsen 2005; Kumar and Kamalanabhan
2014; Loftus 2010)
have described how public scrutiny
and negative media coverage can be a source of stress.
Interestingly, none of our officers commented on either of
these as a source of stress for them, personally. This might
be different for more senior police officers in the
organisation or those in different roles. Further, such stressors
might be more potent in other countries.
In the present economic climate, our findings were
consistent with evidence
(Conway, Kiefer, Hartley, and Briner
Conway et al. 2014)
that organisational change due to
austerity cuts is related to psychological contract breach, which in
turn can be associated with lower contributions from the
employees to the organisation. In addition, the employees are in a
position where even if they wanted to fulfil their employers’
obligations, they could not manage it because of a shortage of
staff
(Guingand 2015)
. Thus, as a result of unmet obligations,
such as a lack of trust, unsupportive employers, no flexibility
and unrealistic obligations of conducting multiple tasks with
fewer staff, there is the very likely prospect of psychological
contract breaches. Unrealistic obligations between employees
and employers have been found to be a key factor in decisions
to resign
(Gaston and Alexander 2001)
. Further,
Sparrow
(1996)
found unfulfilled psychological contract to be related
to withdrawal behaviours. Therefore, it is suggested that
psychological contract fulfilment could be used as a mediator for
improving organisational behaviour
(Atkinson et al. 2003;
Chen and Kao 2012)
.
Contrary to
Noblet et al. (2009)
and
Rodwell et al. (2011)
,
the interviews did provide some evidence that psychological
contract breach was affecting the officers’ mental and physical
wellbeing, and their job satisfaction, with some suggestion of
negative outcomes for the organisation (i.e. intention to
resign). This notion would be strongly supported by the COR
theory suggesting that when employees stay within their
organisation despite perceiving breach they may engage in
withdrawal behaviours to protect the resources they already have
(Kiazad, Seibert, and Kraimer Kiazad et al. 2014; Westman,
Hobfoll, Chen, Davidson, and Laski Westman et al. 2004)
.
From the interviews, it was evident that some officers
experienced breaches to their psychological contract.
Their perceived obligations of their employer to them
included being valued and supported, to be afforded
flexibility and to have a trusting relationship. However,
in interview, some reported these obligations were not
being met and feeling neglected. Interviewees reported
not having the required resources to do their job (i.e.
equipment) and that their employer had unrealistic
expectations of what could be achieved in the time
available. This finding was identical to Gaston et al.
(Gaston
and Alexander 2001)
who subsequently found
unrealistic employer obligations to be related to decisions to
resign. If an employee continues to work besides being
aware of unmet obligations, it is likely that the nature
of the c ontract will become more transactional
(Atkinson 2007)
with the employee experiencing
negative emotions, such as anger
(Zhao et al. 2007)
.
The interviewees’ accounts further describe how
associations between psychological contract, wellbeing
and stress are influenced by their social context, e.g.
their relationships with colleagues and superiors and
their external social context (marital status, family
responsibilities). Officers drew on social support available
within the organisation by communicating with their
seniors and colleagues and from outside the organisation
through talking to family and friends to mediate the
effects of PC breach.
Although not all officers explicitly mentioned the effects of
austerity measures, it was clear from their quotes that fewer
human resources were being linked with an increase in
workload, which was also reported to be negatively affecting their
wellbeing and resulting in them being unable to meet their
perceived obligations to their employer. As eluded to above,
working conditions such as these can result in resignations
and sick leave which further reduces the available workforce.
In addition, they may hamper the recruitment of new staff.
However, there may be other difficulties experienced in
recruiting new officers that are not related to austerity cuts,
for example, recruiting BME officers
(Sutton, Perry,
JohnBaptiste, and Williams Sutton et al. 2006)
.
Limitations of the Study
There were some limitations with the current study that
need to be acknowledged. The study design was
qualitative and therefore the sample size was relatively small;
female and BME police officers were underrepresented
in our sample. Therefore, the views expressed in the
interviews may not generalise to all police officers in the
UK nor to those in other countries. It is, therefore,
important to conduct similar research, sampling a more
representative sample of officers, from across the UK, and
from other countries. Moreover, the interviewees were
self-selected, which might introduce bias in the responses.
It is also important to note that the full range of ranks was
not represented in our sample. In the future, it would be of
interest to compare the findings between different ranks of
officer and those in different roles and track any changes
over time. Finally, the views reported in this paper solely
focussed on the employees’ perspectives. This study did
not interview employers to understand their perspective of
psychological contract. On-going work by the authors is,
however, planned to engage with the employers to seek
their feedback on the findings.
Implications of the Study
In terms of what actions an organisation or employer can take
to promote psychological contract fulfilment and thereby
improve the wellbeing of the workforce, organisational
behaviour and outcomes
(Chen and Kao 2012)
, the current austerity
cuts place limits on what is achievable. However, there are
some suggestions from the existing literature. Guest
(Guest
2004)
found that organisational communication could help
control and manage psychological contract breach.
Specifically, job-related (day-to-day work) and
recruitmentbased (initial entry) communication had an impact on the
employees’ psychological contract. One strategy, therefore,
would be to encourage peer cohesion and improve lines of
communication between employees and employer
(Johnson
2012; Miller Mire, and Kim Miller et al. 2009; Nadin and
Williams 2011; Robinson and Morrison 2000)
.
From the interviews with the police officers, it was clear
that work-life imbalance was a major source of stress. This can
be tackled by enabling flexible working and removing
pressure to do over-time. A further consideration would be
training in mindfulness. Recent studies have indicated its benefits
in reducing stress and anger for law enforcement employees
(e.g. Bergman, Christopher, and Bowen Bergman et al. 2016)
.
Appendix
Table 1 Key themes and their
definitions (n = 18)
Key themes
Motivation
Mutual obligations
Stressors
Negative consequences
Mediators
Positive impact of the job
Conclusion
The current study addressed a gap in the literature on the
psychological contract, exploring its relevance to the
police officers’ profession and its reported impact on their
wellbeing and stress. The themes identified from the
interviews reflect core constructs captured by existing
quantitative measures of psychological contract. In the current
climate of austerity measures, the officers reported facing
considerable workload with fewer staff, which was
affecting their work-life balance and wellbeing. Austerity cuts
are therefore making it challenging for the immediate
employer to fulfil the employees’ expectations resulting in
PC breach. Such cuts are beyond the control of the
organisation; however, PC theory indicates several areas that
could be addressed to reduce the breaches, which were
indicated in the interviews conducted.
Funding This study was self-funded.
Compliance with Ethical Standards
Ethical approval for the study was obtained from Science, Technology
and Mathematics (STEM) Research Ethics Committee at the University
and consent for conducting the study was obtained from the police force.
Ethical Approval BAll procedures performed in studies involving
human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the
institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964
Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical
standards.^ Further ethical approval was granted from the University
and Police Force.
Conflict of Interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of
interest.
Informed Consent Prior to the participation, consent was taken
from each participant to participate in the study and 2 weeks time
was given if they would like to withdraw their data from the study.
Definitions
Interviewees’ different reasons for joining the Police force.
The perceived mutual obligations between the active
police officers and the police force.
A variety of stressors mentioned by the interviewees
were categorised into personal, operational and
organisational stressors.
The negative consequences resulting from PCB and stressors
A number of strategies used to manage stressors.
The aspects of the job that have influenced their life.
Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative
C o m m o n s A t t r i b u t i o n 4 . 0 I n t e r n a t i o n a l L i c e n s e ( h t t p : / /
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use,
distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give
appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link
to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
Abdollahi KM ( 2002 ) Understanding police stress research . J Forensic Psychol Pract 2 : 1 - 24
Alexander DA , Walker LG ( 1996 ) The perceived impact of police work on police officers' spouses and families . Stress Med 12 ( 4 ): 239 - 246
Allen , G. ( 2017 ). Police numbers in England & Wales (SN /SG/2615). Retrieved from http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/ documents/SN02615/SN02615.pdf
Atkinson C ( 2007 ) Trust and the psychological contract . Employee Relat 29 ( 3 ): 227 - 246 . https://doi.org/10.1108/01425450710741720
Atkinson PH , Barrow C , Connors L ( 2003 ) Models of police probationer career progression: preconceptions of the psychological contract . Hum Resour Dev Int 6 ( 1 ): 43 - 56 . https://doi.org/10.1080/ 13678860110059401
BBC. ( 2016 ). Police psychological sick leave up 35% in five years . Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-35965223
Bergman AL , Christopher MS , Bowen S ( 2016 ) Changes in facets of mindfulness predict stress and anger outcomes for police officers . Mindfulness 7 ( 4 ): 851 - 858
Brough P ( 2004 ) Comparing the influence of traumatic and organizational stressors on the psychological health of police, fire, and ambulance officers . Int J Stress Manag 11 ( 3 ): 227 - 244 . https://doi.org/10. 1037/ 1072 - 5245 . 11 .3. 227
Brough P , Chataway S , Biggs A ( 2016 ) You don't want people knowing you're a copper! A contemporary assessment of police organisational culture . Int J Police Sci Manag 18 ( 1 ): 28 - 36 . https:// doi.org/10.1177/1461355716638361
Brunsden , V. , Hill , R. , & Maguire , K. ( 2014 ). Putting fire & rescue service stress management into context: a UK informed perspective . Int Fire Serv J Leadersh Manag , 7 , 27 - 39
Bunderson J ( 2001 ) How work ideologies shape the psychological contracts of professional employees: Doctor's responses to perceived breach . J Organ Behav 22 ( 7 ): 717 - 741
Burke RJ , Mikkelsen A ( 2005 ) Burnout, job stress and attitudes towards the use of force by Norwegian police officers . Policing: Int J Police Strategies Manag 28 ( 2 ): 269 - 278
Campbell DJ , Nobel O ( 2009 ) Occupational stressors in military service: a review and framework . Mil Psychol 21 : 47 - 67
Castaing S ( 2006 ) The effects of psychological contract fulfilment and public service motivation on organizational commitment in the French civil service . Public Policy Admin 21 ( 1 ): 84 - 98 . https://doi. org/10.1177/095207670602100106
Chen CH , Kao RH ( 2012 ) Work values and service-oriented organizational citizenship behaviors: the mediation of psychological contract and professional commitment: a case of students in Taiwan police college . Soc Indic Res 107 : 149 - 169
Collins PA , Gibbs AC ( 2003 ) Stress in police officers: a study of the origins, prevalence and severity of stress-related symptoms within a country police force . J Occup Med 53 : 256 - 264
Conway N , Briner R ( 2009 ) Fifty years of psychological contract research: what do we know and what are the main challenges . In: Hodgkinson GP , Ford JK (eds) International review of industrial and organizational psychology , vol 24 . Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester, pp 71 - 130
Conway N , Kiefer T , Hartley J , Briner RB ( 2014 ) Doing more with less? Employee reactions to psychological contract breach via target similarity or spillover during public sector organisational change . Br J Manag 25 ( 4 ): 737 - 754
Dick P ( 2006 ) The psychological contract and the transition from full to part-time police work . J Organ Behav 27 : 37 - 58 . https://doi.org/10. 1002/job.366
Dick P ( 2009 ) Bending over backwards? Using a pluralistic framework to explore the Management of Flexible Working in the UK police service . Br J Manag 20 : s182 - s193
Dowler K , Arai B ( 2008 ) Stress, gender and policing: the impact of perceived gender discrimination on symptoms of stress . Int J Police Sci Manag 10 ( 2 ): 123 - 135
Ellison KW ( 2004 ) Stress and the police officer . Charles C. Thomas Publishers, Springfield
Evans BJ , Coman GJ , Stanley RO , Burrows GD ( 1993 ) Police officers' coping strategies: an Australian police survey . Stress Med 9 ( 4 ): 237 - 246
Fekedulegn DM , Burchfiel CM , Ma CC , Volanti JM ( 2017 ) Fatigue and on-duty injury among police officers: the BCOPS study . J Saf Res 60 : 43 - 51
Folkman S ( 2008 ) The case for positive emotions in the stress process . Anxiety Stress Coping 21 : 3 - 14
Garbarino S , Cuomo G , Chiorri C , Magnavita N ( 2013 ) Association of work-related stress with mental health problems in a special police force unit . BMJ Open 3 ( 7 ):e002791. https://doi.org/10.1136/ bmjopen-2013 -002791
Gaston K , Alexander JA ( 2001 ) Effective organisation and management of public sector volunteer workers . Int J Public Sector Manag 14 ( 1 ): 59 - 74 . https://doi.org/10.1108/09513550110387075
Gomes AR , Afonso JMP ( 2016 ) Occupational stress and coping among Portuguese military police officers . Avances en Psicología Latinoamericana 34 ( 1 ): 47 - 65 . https://doi.org/10.12804/apl34.1. 2016 .04
Guest DE ( 2004 ) The psychology of the employment relationship: an analysis based on the psychological contract . Appl Psychol: Int Rev 53 ( 4 ): 541 - 555
Guest D , Isaksson K , Witte D ( 2010 ) Employment contracts and psychological contracts among European workers . Oxford University Press, Oxford
Guingand. ( 2015 ). New study reveals nearly half U.K. police officers so stressed they cannot sleep . Retrieved from http://www.pressat.co.uk/ releases/new-study -reveals-nearly-half-uk-police-officers-sostressed-they-cannot-sleep 5f8a449d99c723bbbef6f1eaeb2af137/
Gutshall CL , Hampton DP , Sebetan IM , Stein PC , Broxtermann TJ ( 2017 ) The effects of occupational stress on cognitive performance in police officers . Police Pract Res 18 : 1 - 15 . https://doi.org/10.1080/ 15614263. 2017 .1288120
Halbesleben JRB , Bowler WM ( 2007 ) Emotional exhaustion and job performance: the mediating role of motivation . J Appl Psychol 92 : 93 - 106 . https://doi.org/10.1037/ 0021 - 9010 . 92 .1. 93
Hargreaves , J. , Husband , H. , & Linehan , C. ( 2017 ). Police workforce , England and Wales, 31 March 2017 . Retrieved from https://www. gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/ 630471/hosb1017-police-workforce.pdf
Herriot P , Manning WEG , Kidd JM ( 1997 ) The content of the psychological contract . Br J Manag 8 ( 2 ): 151 - 162 . https://doi.org/10.1111/ 1467 - 8551 . 0047
Hobfoll S ( 1998 ) Stress, culture, and community: the psychology and philosophy of stress . Plenum Press, New York, NY
Houdmont J , Kerr R , Randall R ( 2012 ) Organizational psychosocial hazard exposures in UK policing: management standards Indicator tool reference values . Policing: Int J Police Strategies Manag 35 ( 1 ): 182 - 197
Johnson RR ( 2012 ) Police officer job satisfaction: a multidimensional analysis . Police Q 15 ( 2 ): 157 - 176
Kiazad K , Seibert SE , Kraimer ML ( 2014 ) Psychological contract breach and employee innovation: a conservation of resources perspective . J Occup Organ Psychol 87 : 535 - 556 . https://doi. org/10.1111/joop.12062
Kinman , G. , McDowall , A. , & Cropley , M. ( 2012 ). Work-family conflict and job-related wellbeing in UK police officers: the role of recovery strategies . Paper presented at the Institute of Work Psychology Annual Conference, Sheffield, UK.
Kumar V , Kamalanabhan TJ ( 2014 ) Sources of stress among police officials: a qualitative investigation. IMJ 6(1). Retrieved from www. iimidr.ac .in/wp-content/uploads/Sources.pdf
Kuo SY ( 2014 ) Occupational stress, job satisfaction, and affective commitment to policing among Taiwanese police officers . Police Q 18 ( 1 ): 27 - 54
LeBlanc VR , Regehr CR , Jelley RB , Barath I ( 2008 ) The relationship between coping styles, performance, and response to stressful scenarios in police recruits . Int J Stress Manag 15 : 76 - 93
Liberman , A. M. , Best , S. R. , Meltzer , T. J. , Fagan , J. A. , Weiss , D. S. , & Marmar , C. R. ( 2002 ). Routine Occupational distress in Police. . Policing:Int J Police Strategies Manag , 25 , 421 - 441 . doi:https:// doi.org/10.1108/13639510210429446
Loftus B ( 2010 ) Police occupational culture: classic themes, altered times . Polic Soc 20 : 1 - 20
Lucas T , Weidner N , Janisse J ( 2012 ) Where does work stress come from? A generalizability analysis of stress in police officers . Psychol Health 27 ( 12 ): 1426 - 1447 . https://doi.org/10.1080/08870446. 2012 . 687738
Magnavita N , Garbarino S ( 2013 ) Is absence related to work stress? A repeated cross-sectional study on a special police force . Am J Ind Med 56 : 765 - 775
Martinussen M , Richardsen A , Burke R ( 2007 ) Job demands, job resources, and burnout among police officers . J Crim Just 35 ( 3 ): 239 - 248
McCraty R , Atkinson M ( 2012 ) Resilience training program reduces physiological and psychological stress in police officers . Glob Adv Health Med 1 : 42 - 64
McCreary DR , Thompson MM ( 2006 ) Development of two reliable and valid measures of stressors in policing: the operational and organizational police stress questionnaires . Int J Stress Manag 13 ( 4 ): 494 - 518
Miller HA , Mire S , Kim B ( 2009 ) Predictors of job satisfaction among police officers: does personality matter ? J Crim Just 37 : 419 - 426
Nadin SJ , Williams CC ( 2011 ) Psychological contract violation beyond an employees' perspective: the perspective of employers . Employee Relat 34 ( 2 ): 110 - 125 . https://doi.org/10.1108/01425451211191841
Nelson KV , Smith AP ( 2016 ) Occupational stress, coping and mental health in Jamaican police officers . Occup Med 66 ( 6 ): 488 - 491 . https://doi.org/10.1093/occmed/kqw055
Noblet AJ , Rodwell JJ , Allisey AF ( 2009 ) Police stress: the role of the psychological contract and perceptions of fairness . Policing-Int J Police Strategies Manag 32 ( 4 ): 613 - 630
Pasillas RM , Follette VM , Perumean-Chaney SE ( 2006 ) Occupational stress and psychological functioning in law enforcement officers . J Police Crim Psychol 21 : 41 - 53
Pastwa-Wojciechowska B , Piotrowski A ( 2016 ) Sources, consequences and methods of coping with stress in police officers . J Alcohol Drug Depend 4 ( 244 ). https://doi.org/10.4172/ 2329 - 6488 . 1000244
Paton D , Houghton BF , Gregg CE , McIvor D , Johnston DM , Bürgelt P , Larin P , Gill DA , Ritchie LA , Meinhold S , Horan J ( 2009 ) Managing tsunami risk: social context influences on preparedness . J Pacific Rim Psychol 3 ( 1 ): 27 - 37
Patterson GT ( 2003 ) Examining the effects of coping and social support on work and life stress among police officers . J Crim Just 31 : 215 - 226
PSYCONES. ( 2005 ). Retrieved from www .uv.es\psycon
Rajaratnam , S. M. W. , Barger , L. K. , Lockley , S. W. , Shea , S. A. , Wang , W. , Landrigan , C. P. , O'Brien , C. S. , Qadri , S. , Sullivan , J. P. , Cade , B. E. , Epstein , L. J. , White , D. P. & Czeisler , C. A. ( 2011 ). Sleep Disorders, Health, and Safety in Police Officers JAMA, 306 ( 23 ), 2567 - 2578
Ritchie J , Lewis J ( 2003 ) Qualitative research practice . SAGE , London
Robbins JM , Ford MT , Tetrick LE ( 2012 ) Perceived unfairness and employee health: a meta-analytic integration . J Appl Psychol 97 : 235 - 272
Robinson , D. , Perryman , S. , & Hayday , S. ( 2004 ). The Drivers of Employee Engagement . IES report (408) . Retrieved from www.employment-studies .co.uk/system/files/resources/files/ 408.pdf
Robinson SL ( 1996 ) Trust and breach of the psychological contract . Adm Sci Q 41 ( 4 ): 574 - 599
Robinson SL , Morrison EW ( 2000 ) The development of psychological contract breach and violation: a longitudinal study . J Organ Behav 21 ( 5 ): 525 - 546
Rodwell JJ , Noblet AJ , Allisey AF ( 2011 ) Improving employee outcomes in the public sector: the beneficial effects of social support at work and job control . Pers Rev 40 ( 3 ): 383 - 397 . https://doi.org/10.1108/ 00483481111118676
Rousseau DM ( 1989 ) Psychological and implied contracts in organizations . Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal 2 ( 2 ): 121 - 139
Rousseau DM ( 1990 ) New hire perceptions of their own and their employer's obligations: a study of psychological contracts . J Organ Behav 11 ( 5 ): 389 - 400
Rousseau DM ( 1995 ) Psychological contracts in organizations: understanding written and unwritten agreements . Sage Publications , Thousand Oaks
Rousseau DM ( 2000 ) Psychological contract inventory: technical report . Carneige Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
Scheel T , Mohr G ( 2013 ) The third dimension: value-oriented contents in psychological contracts . Eur J Work Organ Psychol 22 ( 4 ): 390 - 407
Sen YF ( 2015 ) A research on workload perception of the police officer; the case study of Erzurum police . Int J Appl Res 1 ( 11 ): 241 - 244
Setti I , Argentero P ( 2013 ) The influence of operational and organizational stressors on the well-being of municipal police officers . Med Lav 4 ( 5 ): 368 - 379
Shane J ( 2010 ) Organizational stressors and police performance . J Crim Just 38 : 807 - 818
Sparrow PR ( 1996 ) Transitions in the psychological contract: some evidence from the banking sector . Hum Resour Manag J 6 ( 4 ): 75 - 92
Spence W , Millot J ( 2016 ) An exploration of attitudes and support needs of police officer negotiators involved in suicide negotiation . Police Pract Res 17 ( 1 ): 5 - 21
Stansfeld S , Candy B ( 2006 ) Psychosocial work environment and mental health: a meta-analytic review . Scand J Work Environ Health 32 : 443 - 462 . https://doi.org/10.5271/sjweh.1050
Sutton M , Perry B , John-Baptiste C , Williams G ( 2006 ) Black and Asian police officers and support staff: prejudice, identity, agency and social cohesion . In: Internet journal of criminology Retrieved from https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/371597.pdf
Tetrick LE ( 2004 ) Understanding the employment relationship: implications for measurement and research design . In: Coyle-Shapiro JM , Taylor SM , Tetrick LE (eds) The employment relationship: examining psychological and contextual perspectives . Oxford University Press, New York
Thompson BM , Kirk A , Brown DF ( 2005 ) Work based support, emotional exhaustion, and spillover of work stress to the family environment: a study of policewomen . Stress Health 21 : 199 - 207
Toch H ( 2002 ) Stress in policing . American Psychological Association, Washington, DC
Violanti JM , Aron F ( 1993 ) Sources of police stressors, job attitudes, and psychological distress . Psychol Rep 72 : 899 - 904
Violanti JM , Burchiefel CM , Miller DB , Andrew ME ( 2006 ) One Buffalo Cardio-Metabolic Occupational Police Stress (BCOPS) pilot study methods and participant characteristics . Ann Epidemiol 16 : 148 - 156 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annepidem. 2005 . 07 .054
Volanti JM , Andrew ME , Burchfiel CM , Dorn J , Hartley T , Miller DB ( 2016 ) Posttraumatic stress symptoms and subclinical cardiovascular disease in police officers . Int J Stress Manag 13 ( 4 ): 541 - 554
Vuorensyrjä M , Mälkiä M ( 2011 ) Nonlinearity of the effects of police stressors on police officer burnout . Policing: Int J Police Strategies Manag 34 ( 3 ): 382 - 402
Waggonner , L. B. ( 2012 ). Police officer fatigue: the effects of consecutive night shift work on police officer performance. (Doctor of Philosophy) , Washington State University
Walker A ( 2010 ) The development and validation of a psychological contract of safety scale . J Saf Res 41 ( 4 ): 315 - 321
Waters JA , Ussery W ( 2007 ) Police stress: history, contributing factors, symptoms and interventions . Policing: Int J Police Strategies Manag 30 : 169 - 188
Westman M , Hobfoll SE , Chen S , Davidson OB , Laski S ( 2004 ) Organizational stress through the lens of conservation of resources (COR) theory . In: Perrewe PL , Ganster DC (eds) Research in occupational stress and well-being ( Vol. 4 , pp. 167 - 220 ). Emerald (MCB UP), Bingley . https://doi.org/10.1016/S1479- 3555 ( 04 ) 04005 - 3
Yoo S , Matsui Y ( 2012 ) The influence of attitide of inhibiting spousal disclosure about stress oin th emental health of firefighters . Jpn J Psychol 83 ( 5 ): 440 - 449
Yun I , Hwang E , Lynch J ( 2015 ) Police stressors, job satisfaction, burnout, and turnover intention among south Korean police officers . Asian J Criminol 10 ( 1 ): 23 - 41
Zhao H , Wayne SJ , Glibkowski BC , Bravo J ( 2007 ) The impact of psychological contract breach on work-related outcomes: a meta-analysis . Pers Psychol 60 ( 3 ): 647 - 680